Engineering and construction company Daewoo E&C is aiming at expanding its global footprint by taking part in more overseas projects, the company said, as it hopes to keep their momentum rolling from last year’s successful performance.

Earlier this year, the company announced it had secured a contract for multiple projects worth 2.9 trillion won ($2.52 billion) to build the Grand Port of Al Faw in Iraq -- a major state initiative by the Iraqi government with plans to make it a global port by 2041. It will build a tunnel, a container terminal and roads to the port, according to the company.

“With Iraq a great overseas strategic market that connects to Nigeria, we plan to actively take part in the port hinterland development project in the future,” one official at Daewoo E&C said.

The move to take part in the first phase of the 53 trillion-won deal saw the company score 10 construction projects worth 4.1 trillion won in total.

Marking its 48th anniversary this year, Daewoo E&C posted 229.4 billion won in operating profit during the first quarter, a near 90 percent year-on-year increase.

It also received orders worth 13.9 trillion won in 2020, up 30.8 percent from the previous year -- the biggest order volume in five years.

Its revenue was 8.13 trillion won while its operating profit was 558.3 billion won, up 53.3 percent from the previous year helping deliver its highest operating profit margin in the last five years.

In an earnings surprise, its operating profit soared nearly 465 percent to 253.3 billion won during the fourth quarter of last year -- more than twice the market consensus at that time, the company said.

With plans to build some 35,000 homes this year alone, Daewoo E&C is expected to continue delivering a strong performance in the property sector. And as contracts for overseas construction projects are expected to yield revenue, the company said it will speed up the process of improving its financial status later this year.

Earlier this month, the company was also given the civil engineering structure of the year award by the Korean Society of Civil Engineers for a breakwater it built at the Al Faw port. Spanning over 15 kilometers, work on the construction began in 2014 and was completed in September last year, with the project costing 870 billion won.